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MINNESOTA:

charged with capital o enses are not en tled to have bail set,
although it may be. Defendants who have been convicted in the
Superior Court are not en tled to have bail set pending an appeal
to the Supreme Court, although it may be.
When is bail set?
Bail is some mes set at the police sta on at a SPECIAL ARRAIGNMENT by a bail commissioner. If it is set there, it may be posted at
the police sta on or at the ACI and the defendant will be released
on a promise to appear in Court. Generally, the more serious the
o ense, the less likely it is that bail will be set at the police sta on.
Usually, a fee is required for a bail commissioner to come and set
bail at the police sta on.
Regardless of whether the defendant was released from the police
sta on, a new bail decision will be made by a judge at the rst
court appearance. That bail will generally stay the same un l there
is a judgment of guilt or innocence in the case. It may change,
however, if the defendant does not maintain good behavior while
out on bail, does not reappear when required, or if the case
moves from one court to another. In addi on, it may change if a
serious event happens during the case, typically if a guilty verdict
is returned by a jury and the defendant is awai ng sentencing. At
this point, it may be cancelled altogether.
Behavior while on bail must be as good as behavior while on
proba on. A defendant promises both to reappear when required
and to Ikeep the peace and be of good behavior.J Special condi ons of release on bail may he set as well, and a bail release
may be supervised or not. If the state believes a viola on of one
of these condi ons has occurred, whether by an arrest for a new
o ense or something else, the state may charge a viola on of bail.
A er a hearing similar to a proba on viola on hearing on whether
the condi ons of the bail were violated, with witnesses and tes mony, the judge may order the defendant held without bail un l
trial or may increase the bail. If bail is revoked, the defendant may
be kept in jail awai ng trial for as long as three months.
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be forfeited. Defendant who do not have the resources to deposit


cash of 10% of the surety amount may hire a BAIL BONDSPERSON
to post the surety. Bondspersons are licensed and approved by the
Court, but they are private business people and a defendant?s arrangement with a bail bondsperson is a private contract. For a fee,
usually about 5% of the amount of the surety, the bondsperson
will put up his or her cash or property with the court. Some mes
a judge will set CASH BAIL. If this is the bail set, property may not
be posted instead of cash and the full amount of the cash required
must be deposited.
Defendants charged with non-capital crimes are en tled to have
bail set in a reasonable amount. A CAPITAL CRIME is one where
life imprisonment is a possible punishment. Some examples of
capital crimes are murder, robbery, burglary, rape, and arson. A
Jreasonable amountK of bail is not necessarily something a ordable. An amount of bail may be beyond reach and s ll legally be
considered reasonable.
In capital crimes, the state may object to bail and request a BAIL
HEARING, usually in District Court. The judge may release the defendant pending that hearing, but most o en defendants are held
in jail un l that me. At the hearing, the prosecu on will call witnesses to tes fy. The defense may call witnesses as well, but there
is generally no purpose in doing so. If, a er the hearing, the judge
believes that the defendant is likely to be found guilty by a jury, s/
he can order the defendant held without bail at the Adult Correc onal Ins tu ons un l trial. If the evidence is not su cient to
show probable guilt, the judge must set bail. The judge is authorized to set bail even if the evidence is su cient, if the judge feels
that the defendant is likely to appear voluntarily when required.
If bail is set in an amount that is not reasonable, a defendant may
request the Court which set the bail to reduce it. If that fails, the
defendant may request that the next highest court lower the bail.
It is important to know that the only me bail is cons tu onally
guaranteed is prior to trial for a non-capital o ense. Defendants
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SUBMIT:
POPULAR NEIGHBORHOOD
MEDIA

We?ve set up a submissions page to serve as a par cipatory platform for people throughout Providence to submit

- police abuse reports


- tes monies about their run-ins with cops
- videos of police ac vity [CopWatch]
- street art/gra
- cri cal thoughts about an -police/prison
organizing e orts throughout the city
- any other relevant material.
We will try our best to review the submi ed content in order to
publish and share, but
given our limited capacity as volunteer members it might be di cult to review each submission.
For videos, please upload to YouTube and then insert the share
link into the submission post as a video. Be sure to include a
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descrip on with important details while also tagging videos with


loca on, department, and other key info.
When repor ng incidents of police abuse or run-ins, please include the following informa on:
- Badge #s and descrip on of o cers involved
- District # [D1-9; typically displayed on the cruiser near the rear
passenger windows and the rear windshield]
- Cruiser license plates [watch for jumpout boys/g-unit/undercover]
- Involved departments [Providence Police, Pawtucket Police, State
Police, etc.]
- Loca on
We seek to upli the experiences, voices, and perspec ves of
poor/working-class/Black/brown/youth/queer/trans communi es.
We will reject material that we nd toxic, harmful, or reac onary
[racist, sexist, classist, queer/transantagonis c, etc].

Material can also be


submi ed through email:
endpolicebrutalityprov@gmail.
tcprisonorg@lists.riseup.net
com

You denitely do not want to sign away these rights at the police
sta on.

What is Bail?
BAIL is a very complicated topic, but it is one of the most important since it determines whether defendants will wait for trial in
jail or on the street. Essen ally, every me a defendant appears in
court un l the very end of the case, the court will want some assurance that s/he will appear the next me. Some mes the court
will simply accept a promise to reappear; this is called PERSONAL
RECOGNIZANCE. Personal recognizance is set in some amount of
money, such as $1,000. No money changes hands when the bail is
set, and the defendant does not have to deposit any money. But
if the defendant fails to appear or breaks some other condi on of
release, s/he will owe the State the amount of the recognizance.
In se ng bail, the judge may look at family background, employment history, educa on, and criminal record, if any. The judge will
be looking for anything in a defendantWs background that might
indicate whether the defendant is likely voluntarily to reappear in
court.
In serious cases, or if the defendant has a long criminal record or
has failed to appear in the past, the Court wants more of an assurance than a promise alone. In these cases, some type of money
bail will be set. Most o en, the money bail that is set is called
SURETY bail. If the judge sets, for example, $10,000 with surety,
the defendant may secure release only by deposi ng a legal tle
to property worth $10,000 with the Court. This is called [pos ng\
bail. AnyoneWs property may be posted with the Court, so long as
they show true ownership and that the property has a value at
least equal to the amount of the surety required. Because many
people do not own property, two alterna ves have emerged.
First, the law allows a defendant to deposit a cash amount equal
to 10% of the surety bail set. If s/he appears in court every me it
is required, the 10% cash will be returned; if not, the deposit will
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anything at all that relates to the police inves ga on of your case.


Never sign something you haven8t completely read or do not fully
understand. The police will probably ask you to sign something
called a RIGHTS FORM; the police will tell you that signing it simply means that you understand your rights. Some mes, however,
that form has addi onal things printed on it. One common extra
thing it may have is a statement saying, DI do not want a lawyer
present.F Another common addi on is, DI want to make a statement.F If you sign that you understand the Miranda warnings, you
may be agreeing with those addi onal statements. You do not
have to sign a Rights Form or a WAIVER FORM, no ma er what
the police tell you.

Basic Know Your Rights Info


Cops are trained to exploit people8s ignorance and use it to their
advantage - o en mes through violent means. But there are
cases in which asser ng one8s rights during encounters with law
enforcement can work to de-escalate or prevent a situa on en rely. Asser ng our rights is a prac ce in power.

Rights While at the Sta on

This resource is meant to serve as a basic knowledge-base for legal


informa on regarding law enforcement encounters and police
ac vity. Although we acknowledge the limits of laws and rights as
they are conceptualized, wri en, and enforced in the US, knowyour-rights informa on can be used as a tool for people to defend
themselves against police and other law enforcement.

When you make your call, it is best to call a lawyer or to call someone you trust who can call one for you. Make sure they know exactly where you are and that a lawyer comes to the police sta on
as soon as possible. If you call a lawyer, the police cannot listen to
the conversa on.

While we believe in employing a diversity of tac cs - including


using our rights - as a defense against police violence, we need
to develop sharper tools than dull laws that police are trained to
circumvent. Although, we can only gure out what those might be
through collec ve struggle. Considering that police typically work
beyond the law to conduct their regular duty, it is jus ed for
people defending themselves, their community, and their neighborhood against police to go beyond the law when necessary.

You have certain guaranteed rights at the police sta on. The police
may not inform you of this, but: YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE A
TELEPHONE CALL WITHIN ONE HOUR OF YOUR ARREST

Signing papers
The police may ask you to sign several papers while at the sta on.
Some of these papers may be damaging and it is advisable to not
sign any papers at the sta on without an a orney present.
The only paper you may want to sign is an INVENTORY that lists
the items taken from you when you arrived at the sta on. If you
do not sign this, you may not get your belongings back.
Some mes the police will ask you to sign a rights form or a waiver form. You do not have to sign this. Some mes the police add
items at the end of this form such as DI do not want a lawyer presentF or DI want to make a statementF to the bo om of this form.
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Possible direc ons could include developing co-opera ve legal collec ves/clinics based in working-class neighborhoods made up of
people with legal skills of all levels [not just DprofessionalF/white/
straight/men] to address the need for legal, jail, and court support
in oppressed communi es.
FYI -This page is not a subs tute for a lawyer or for legal advice.
Consult a lawyer for advice on specic advice about a par cular
situa on.
Source on legal info: Rhode Island Public Defender

What if You are Stopped by the Police for


Ques oning?
The police may STOP FOR QUESTIONING any person who they
believe is commi ng or has commi ed a crime, but that stop
usually must be very brief. The person stopped need not give any
informa on at all, except that the driver of a car, if stopped, must
produce a license and registra on. The police have no legal right
to stop just anyone: only persons they have reason to believe have
commi ed a crime, or persons they suspect are carrying weapons,
may be stopped for ques oning. The stop must be brief, unless
the police are prepared to make an arrest. An arrest is jus ed
only when the police have PROBABLE CAUSE to believe the person
is commi ng or has commi ed a crime. Some mes it is permissible for the police to detain a suspect long enough for a person at
the scene of a crime to see if they can iden fy the suspect.
Anything said to a police o cer may be used in court, whether it
is an oral statement or a wri en statement. Some people think
that as long as they do not sign anything, nothing they say can be
introduced as evidence in court against them: this is not true. A
STATEMENT is some mes another word for CONFESSION.
O en, defendants give statements to the police because they
believe they can Dtalk their way outE of di culty. That is highly
unlikely to be true. Once police have made an arrest, or believe
they have cause to arrest a person, a statement is unlikely to do
a defendant any good. In fact, it can do a defendant a lot of damage when the case gets to court. Similarly, defendants some mes
believe that if they Dcooperate,E less harm will come to them. That
is just as untrue. Once a formal charge is made in court, only the
Court or prosecutor may dismiss the case. No ma er what a defendant tells the police, the police have no power to drop a formal
charge.
The police cannot deliver on any promises of par cular sentences,
although they some mes make recommenda ons to the prose7

If giving a confession would help you get a good deal now, which
it usually will not, it will help you just as much or more later. The
important thing to remember is that there is nothing you can do
by yourself in the police sta on that a lawyer could not do as well
or, more likely, be er, since s/he is trained for this purpose. You
can only hurt your case by giving a confession.
(5) =You have the right to stop the ques oning at any me.B If
you begin to give a statement, or confession, you may stop answering ques ons at any me. Just because you begin does not
mean you are DstuckE with your decision. If you change your mind
at any me or become unsure, stop answering ques ons. Occasionally, it may be true that giving a statement will help your case.
In that event, a lawyer will insure that you give a statement which
will help your case the most. It never hurts to have a lawyer with
you, even while you are giving a statement to the police.
Another right, which the police may not tell you about, is the right
to make a telephone call. You should always let someone know
that you are in the police sta on under arrest. The best person
to call is a lawyer. If you cannot a ord a private lawyer, or do not
know one to call, call the Public Defender O ce to speak to a lawyer. If you cannot reach a lawyer, call someone whom you trust to
call a lawyer for you. Make sure that the person you call knows exactly which police sta on you are being held at. If the person you
call is going to telephone a lawyer for you, make sure he or she
knows it is important that a lawyer come down to the sta on as
soon as possible. If your lawyer is not available, call another one.
The police may ask you to sign papers in the police sta on. Some
of these papers are not damaging, but it will be di cult somemes for you to know which are damaging documents and which
are not. The be er rule is not to sign anything at all (except that
you may want to sign an INVENTORY report which is a list of all
items taken from your pockets when you were arrested; if you do
not sign the report, it is possible you will not get your belongings
returned to you). Other than an inventory report, do not sign
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Miranda Rights
Police generally ques on persons they arrest. Prior to ques oning,
police will give some preliminary advice, called MIRANDA WARNINGS. This is what they are and what they mean:
(1) 0You have the right to remain silent.9 This means that you
are legally en tled to refuse to answer any ques ons at all. You
may think that if you refuse to answer ques ons, you will look
guilty. The law protects you, however, because a refusal to answer
ques ons cannot be admi ed in court if you were under arrest at
the me you refused. In other words, the jury will never know that
you refused to answer ques ons so they canLt hold it against you.
(2) 0Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law.9
This means that anything you tell the police may be tes ed to
in court. If you say something damaging (incrimina ng), anyone
who heard you say it will tes fy in court, repea ng to the jury
what you said to the police. This is why an oral statement can be
as damaging to you as a wri en confession.
(3) 0You have the right to an a orney.9 You do not need to be
alone in the police sta on. You are en tled to have a lawyer there
with you during any police ques oning. If there is someone else
-- parent or a non-lawyer -- whom you want to be with you, ask
the police if he or she may be present during ques oning. The
police do not have to agree, but if they donLt, that is another good
reason not to give a statement.
(4) 0If you cannot a ord an a orney, one will be appointed for
you.9 If you are indigent, the police will call a Public Defender
lawyer to be with you at the sta on. Usually, a Public Defender
lawyer is not appointed un l your arraignment in court. However,
if you do want to make a statement, or if you do not know whether you want to make a statement or not, the police will ask a
Public Defender lawyer to come to the sta on to consult with you.
If no Public Defender is available, wait un l you get to court. Do
not make a statement just because there is no lawyer available.
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cutor or the judge. Neither can the police insure that a defendant
will not be prosecuted once s/he is charged. It is true that the police themselves determine whether a person will be arrested, but
it is highly unlikely that anything the defendant says will inuence
that decision. If there is enough evidence to arrest, the defendant
will be charged. If police do not yet have enough evidence, the
defendant runs the risk that the statement s/he gives will provide
that evidence.
Persons stopped while driving a car must show the police a license
and registra on. There are very special rules for when a car may
be searched if a person in the car is stopped or arrested. As a general rule of thumb, police can search any item within the car itself
if it might contain weapons. Nothing in a car is absolutely guaranteed to be secure against a police search, but items in a locked
trunk are protected more than items strewn about the seats; and
items kept in a locked container of any sort are more protected
than items kept in the open.
Persons stopped on the street need not show police anything.
The police may not search a person stopped on the street, unless
they are willing to make an arrest, with one excep on: if there is
a reason to believe the person is armed, police may UFRISKV the
person (pat down the outside of your clothing). O en if the police
believe they have found some incrimina ng ar cle on a person,
they will ask him or her to take it out and give it to them. No one
is obligated to do this. If the police are en tled under the law to
take the ar cle, the police should take it themselves. A defendant
who voluntarily gives police an item may nd that even though
the police were not legally en tled to have it to begin with, the
defendantLs ac on of handing it over may cons tute CONSENT.
Usually, anything the police take illegally may not be used against
a defendant in court: it will be SUPPRESSED from evidence. If,
however, a defendant turns over an item or consents to the police
taking it, the item may be used in court even if the police were not
en tled to take the item forcibly.
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If a person is merely stopped, rather than arrested, the police


have no right to make him or her open packages or boxes on his
or her person; they have no right, for example, to look inside a
cigare e pack to see if there are drugs.
As a general ma er, it is always be er not to voluntarily permit
any searches of your person, car or belongings. If the law gives
police the right to search, they will do so without your agreement. If the law does not give them the right to search, your
voluntary coopera on will give them that right.
With very rare excep ons, homes may not be searched without
a search warrant, signed by a judge, giving the police the right
to enter the home and look for par cular, specied objects. Also,
police may usually not enter a home without permission in order
to make an arrest, unless they have an arrest warrant for a specic
person located in the home. A person who lives in the home or is
visi ng there with permission cannot generally be arrested inside
the home unless the police have either a search warrant or an
arrest warrant, signed by a judge. The police are obligated to show
that warrant.
An ARREST allows the police to keep a defendant in custody un l
court. Arrested persons are taken to the police sta on for BOOKING, and will be ngerprinted and photographed. Arrested persons will be required to iden fy themselves, and it is a crime to
give a false iden ty. Police may completely search the person of
an arrested person and they may use anything they nd against
you in court. Police can o en impound the vehicle of a person
arrested, if the person was the driver. An INVENTORY SEARCH
requires the defendant to empty pockets. Wallets, keys and other
items will be taken. These items, as long as they are not evidence
of a crime, will be returned when the person leaves the sta on.
Police may insist that an arrested person par cipate in a LINEUP.
Persons who are not arrested or not legally detained do not have
to par cipate in a lineup, and should not do so. A lineup is when
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probably guilty, the juvenile must be released un l trial.


Another di erence between juveniles and adults concerns sentencing. Unless a juvenile is waived to adult court. or cer ed in
the Family Court. no sentence can last past his or her 21st birthday no ma er how serious the o ense s/he commi ed was. If the
sentence involves proba on, the proba on must end on the juvenileQs 21st birthday. This is more benecial treatment than adults
receive. On the other hand, juvenile sentences may last un l the
juvenileQs 21st birthday, no ma er how minor the o ense was,
and this is far less benecial.
With limited excep ons, juvenile proceedings are conden al, as
are juvenile records. A person with only a juvenile record has no
convic ons and no arrests. More and more, though, Rhode Island
law has changed the conden ality of juvenile records.

If you are arrested:


1) Use your right to remain silent.

Don0t talk to the police.


2) Use your right to refuse consent. If the police are asking you to
tell them or show them something, it is probably because they do
not have the right to look without your permission.
You do not have to give consent to a search.
3) Once the police have arrested you, there is li le you will be able
to say to stop them from ling a charge.

Do not try to talk yourself out of a situa on. It almost


always makes ma ers worse.

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The juvenile prosecutor may plea bargain. If the juvenile pleads


not guilty (which should always be done at arraignment), the juvenile will be en tled to a trial, with all the same protec ons that
an adult has at trial. Witnesses will tes fy, they will be cross-examined by the other side, the juvenile may tes fy under oath if he
or she wants to, and the judge will decide whether the juvenile is
delinquent or not (whether he or she has commi ed the o ense
charged). The primary di erence between a juvenileDs trial and an
adultDs trial is that there is no jury in the Family Court for juveniles
unless they are cer ed.
Juveniles may be sentenced to a range of sentences. While nes
are rarely used in the juvenile system, res tu on is common if
a vic m has su ered a monetary loss. Juveniles may be placed
on proba on for denite or indenite periods, and sentences of
imprisonment may be suspended. Juveniles may be sentenced to
serve jail me at a Training School. If a juvenile is convicted a er
a trial, his or her appeal to the Supreme Court is exactly like the
appeal of an adult who has been convicted in the Superior Court.
If the appeal is won, the juvenile will receive a new trial.
There are some important di erences between a juvenile proceeding and an adult proceeding. First, an adult may be held in
custody just because s/he cannot a ord whatever surety bail was
set. A juvenile may he held in custody awai ng trial only a er a
PROBABLE CAUSE HEARING. This hearing may be held automatically whenever the judge decides to hold the juvenile without
bail awai ng trial; if the judge does not announce that a probable cause hearing will be held, the juvenile, or his or her lawyer
should request such a hearing. At the hearing, the prosecu on
will present witnesses who will tes fy under oath and the defense may or may not present witnesses. A er the hearing, if the
judge decides that the juvenile is probably guiltyM, the juvenile
may con nue to be held without bail un l trial (although a judge
always has the power to release a juvenile regardless of whether
he or she is probably guilty). If the judge decides that the prosecuon has not shown enough evidence to believe that the juvenile is
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the police literally put the defendant in a line with other people
to see if the vic m or witness can iden fy anyone in the line as
having par cipated in a crime. A lineup iden ca on can be very
damaging in court. Only persons formally charged are en tled to
be represented by an a orney at a lineup. If a person is represented by the Public Defender, a Public Defender a orney will come
down to the police sta on during the lineup.
Persons required to appear in a lineup should be careful not to
wear any dis nc ve clothing which might itself cause the witness
to make a posi ve iden ca on. The witness is supposed to make
an iden ca on, if s/he can, by face and physical characteris cs,
not by anything else. A defendant may be required to speak or say
certain words at a lineup and to put on certain clothing.

When Can the Police Search Your House or


Belongings?
The police may search anything if they have a valid SEARCH WARRANT, signed by a judge. If the police come to your door and show
you the warrant, you must let them in. They may search anywhere
the warrant permits. The warrant will say right on it where the
police are allowed to search. You have a right to see the warrant
before you let the police into your house. If the police do not have
a warrant, you usually do not have to let them in your house.
If the police ARREST you, they have a right to fully search your
person and clothing. They may open and inspect any ar cle found
in your clothing. Under certain circumstances, they may also
search your pocketbook or any bag you are carrying.
The police may SEIZE (take) any incrimina ng item which they nd
in a lawful search. They may also seize any item which they see
without searching (if you are stopped while driving, for example,
and an illegal item is lying on the front seat in full view, the police
may seize it).
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Normally, the police are not allowed to search your home without
a warrant. One excep on is when they are arres ng you in your
home. If they arrest you in your house, they are allowed to search
the nearby area. They are not allowed, however, to travel from
room to room, searching through your belongings unless they
have a search warrant for your home. It is important if you are
arrested in your home to stand in one place; anywhere you travel,
the police may be able to search.
Some mes the police will ask if they can Blook aroundC your
house or car. If you agree, you have consented and they may use
anything they nd in court against you. The police are able to look
and search anywhere if they have your consent. You do not have
to consent to any search. They will probably not ask for your consent to search somewhere they can legally search anyway; usually,
they will only ask for your consent if they would not legally be
able to search with it. You can only hurt yourself and your case by
consen ng.
Even if you believe you have nothing to hide, you should not consent to a search. You may not know what someone else has le
in your car or house; if the police nd something, they may not
believe you did not know it was there and they may arrest you.
If you give your consent to a search, you may change your mind at
any me. Even if the police are in the middle of a search, you may
tell them to stop. It is harder, however, to stop a search in progress
than it is to refuse to let them search at all, so the be er rule is
not to agree in the rst place.

What Happens When a Minor is Charged


with a Crime?
In the law, a minor is referred to as a JUVENILE. When a juvenile
commits an o ense which would be a felony if commi ed by
an adult, the juvenile is charged with being DELINQUENT. If the
juvenile commits an o ense which would be a misdemeanor if
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commi ed by an adult, and it is the juvenileJs rst o ense, the


juvenile is charged with being WAYWARD. A juvenile may also be
charged with o enses called STATUS OFFENSES , which apply only
to minors, such as truancy, disobedience, etc. An ac on against a
juvenile is not considered a criminal ac on and the juvenile, even
if found guilty, will not have a criminal record. Many of the procedures are the same, however, as those for adults charged with
crime.
All charges against juveniles (minors under the age of eighteen)
are led in the FAMILY COURT and most will be handled to comple on in that Court. The Family Court is in a building with other
courts, but di erent judges handle Family Court ma ers. A delinquency case may some mes be transferred to Superior Court,
and the juvenile treated a er that as if s/he were an adult. Only
very serious o enses, or juveniles with lengthy previous records,
may be transferred to adult court where s/he will have the right
to a jury trial. That is called a waiver of Family Court jurisdic on.
Instead of transferring a juvenile charged with a serious crime,
the Family Court may CERTIFY the juvenile instead. If a juvenile is
cer ed, s/he will be given a jury trial in the Family Court.
A juvenile is charged with waywardness or delinquency in the
same way in which an adult in District Court is charged with a
crime: the police will sign a pe on, claiming that the juvenile
has commi ed an o ense. The juvenile will be arraigned, the way
an adult is, and some release condi on may be set. A juvenile is
en tled to a lawyer at arraignment and, if the juvenileJs family
is indigent, a Public Defender lawyer will represent the juvenile.
A juvenile is also en tled to have a parent with him or her at all
mes. Juveniles may be held without bail more o en than adults.
Usually, money bail is not set for a juvenile: either the juvenile is
released on personal recognizance or the juvenile is commi ed
without bail at the BoysJ or GirlsJ Training School in Cranston to
await trial.
A juvenile may admit delinquency or s/he may plead not guilty.
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